Ten Layer Mushroom Lasagna

You could call this a "Dump" Lasagna, as it is made with a lot of stuff I had lying around the house and is loosely adapted from a Campbell Soup label recipe. It's actually pretty good right out of the oven and probably will taste better after it sits overnight in the fridge and is reheated. If you are not a mushroom fan, there are plenty of ways to substitute the elements of this recipe (see "Variations" below). It's not as hard to make as you think and doesn't take very long to put together. And most of us vegetarian cooks have most of this stuff already in our pantries.

First three layers - noodles, cottage cheese and sauce

This recipe is an equal opportunity offender. The recipe uses milk, mozzarella, provolone, and cottage cheeses (which upsets the anti-dairy Vegans), pasta with gluten (which sends the anti-gluten crowd into low Earth orbit), and sets off the anti-mushroom folk with it's use of mushrooms and mushroom soup (which sets off the anti-salt faction). It uses vegeburger which sets off the anti-soy crowd. One would think I set out to make a dish that is certain to draw criticism. Actually, I just like lasagna and don't care what the food Nazis think. It's healthier than lasagna with hamburger or Italian sausage in it, so I am content.

Lasagna is a fun dish to get creative with if you have any head at all for substitutions. You could, for instance, substitute fresh spinach for fresh mushrooms. You can take out the cottage cheese if you want and just use the mushroom soup sauce or do it the other way round. You probably shouldn't substitute chocolate chips for the vegeburger, though. That would be silly.

Have fun with this and see you at potluck!

Ingredients:

Layers 4 & 5 - Sliced Provolone & slice mushrooms

• Sliced black olives
• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 bag Morningstar Farms Recipe Crumbles
• 1/4 chopped onion
• 1/2 chopped Bell Pepper
• 1 can Mushroom soup 
• 1/4 cup milk
• 9 Lasagna noodles 
• Sliced fresh mushrooms or small jar of mushrooms drained
• 2 slices Provolone Cheese (or more mozzarella)
• 1/2 large carton cottage cheese  

Directions:

Layer's 6-9: Mushroom sauce, noodles vegeburger
and spaghetti sauce

1. Heat over to 400 degrees.
2. If the lasagna noodles you use are not "oven ready", you'll need to prepare the noodles according to the package directions. I used both oven ready rice gluten-free rice lasagna noodles and regular whole wheat lasagna noodles because that's what I had. I put the oven ready noodles on the bottom of the casserole dish and put the wheat noodles on to boil.
3. In a skillet put a little olive oil and heat. Add Griller Crumbles, onion and bell

   

   Griller crumbles, onion and peppers sauteed in olive oil.

   pepper and brown the crumbles and soften the onions and peppers. 
4. First layer - In a large casserole dish, cover the bottom of the casserole with lasagna noodles.
5. Add second layer - Spread cottage cheese over the noodles.
6. Add third layer - Spaghetti sauce over cottage cheese, spreading evenly.
7. Add fourth layer - Provolone strips or mozzarella strips laid flat on top of what you have so far.
8. Add fifth layer - Mix can of mushroom sauce and 1/4 cup milk and pour over mixture.
9. Add sixth layer - Slice fresh or canned mushrooms and spread sliced 'shrooms over the top of the cheese slices.
10. Add seventh layer - Spread lasagna noodles over the top of the 'shrooms.
11. Add eighth layer - Spread vegeburger crumbles, onions, and pepper mixture over the top of the noodles.

    

    Layer 10: Cheese and olives - ready to pop in the oven

12. Add ninth layer - Spread spaghetti sauce over vegeburger layer
13. Add tenth layer - Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over all and sliced olives over that. I count them as one layer, though technically those few olives might make it eleven layers. I just like the symmetry of ten layers.
14. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees till sauce bubbles and cheese is melted.
15. Switch oven to "broil" and broil at high for 2 minutes. Watch closely or it will burn on top. This helps brown the cheese a little bit and looks nice.

Serving suggestions:

Set the casserole on a hot pad to cool and cover with aluminum foil or the casserole lid if you have one. Once it reaches room temperature, you can put it in the fridge overnight, which will allow the flavors to spread throughout. Heat it to 170 degrees in the oven or warmer about an hour or so before potluck.

Variations:

You can actually leave out any of the layers you want to. If you hate mushrooms, leave 'em out or substitute something else. You can make a basic cream sauce or use another cream sauce with any flavor you think suitable. This recipe uses less cheese, so you can substitute extra cheese for the mushroom soup sauce if you want. You can leave out the vegeburger or substitute Loma Linda or Worthington vegeburger, with or without the onions and peppers. You can even substitute spinach for the fresh mushrooms if you want. It works pretty well any way you want to (except, of course, with chocolate).

(c) 2017 by Tom King